diff --git a/internal/platform/canvas_model_stream.go b/internal/platform/canvas_model_stream.go
index 8bc9047..0942cc7 100644
--- a/internal/platform/canvas_model_stream.go
+++ b/internal/platform/canvas_model_stream.go
@@ -18,9 +18,22 @@ func writeCanvasModelStream(ctx context.Context, w http.ResponseWriter, model ca
 		return
 	}
 	view := model.view(nil)
+	// A count covers direct members only; an empty canvas is explicit too.
+	counts := map[string]int{}
+	for _, canvas := range view.Canvases {
+		counts[canvas.ID] = 0
+	}
+	for _, element := range view.Elements {
+		owner := modelString(element["ownerCanvasId"])
+		if _, ok := counts[owner]; !ok {
+			reject(w, 500, "invalid_model_coverage")
+			return
+		}
+		counts[owner]++
+	}
 	header := response{"streamVersion": 1, "kind": "header", "sequence": 0, "snapshotToken": token,
 		"documentFormatVersion": canvasModelFormat, "projectId": model.Root, "canvases": view.Canvases,
-		"versions": view.Versions, "tombstones": view.Tombstones, "removedCanvasIds": view.Removed, "elementCount": len(view.Elements)}
+		"versions": view.Versions, "tombstones": view.Tombstones, "removedCanvasIds": view.Removed, "elementCount": len(view.Elements), "canvasElementCounts": counts}
 	const maxLine = 8 * 1024 * 1024
 	const maxBytes = 64 * 1024 * 1024
 	sequence, total := 0, 0
diff --git a/internal/platform/canvas_model_stream_test.go b/internal/platform/canvas_model_stream_test.go
index 9ddce6d..0174908 100644
--- a/internal/platform/canvas_model_stream_test.go
+++ b/internal/platform/canvas_model_stream_test.go
@@ -90,3 +90,27 @@ func TestCanonicalModelStreamCancellationNeverClaimsCompletion(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("cancelled stream wrote a tail", len(records))
 	}
 }
+
+func TestCanonicalModelStreamDeclaresDirectScopeCountsIncludingEmptyCanvases(t *testing.T) {
+	model := modelTestDocument()
+	empty, nested := modelTestID(41), modelTestID(42)
+	model.Canvases[empty] = modelCanvas{ID: empty, Parent: &modelParent{CanvasID: model.Root, EntryElementID: "frame-empty"}}
+	model.Canvases[nested] = modelCanvas{ID: nested, Parent: &modelParent{CanvasID: model.Root, EntryElementID: "frame-nested"}}
+	model.Versions[empty], model.Versions[nested] = 1, 1
+	model.Elements["frame-empty"] = modelTestNode("frame-empty", model.Root)
+	model.Elements["frame-nested"] = modelTestNode("frame-nested", model.Root)
+	model.Elements["nested-node"] = modelTestNode("nested-node", nested)
+	writer := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	writeCanvasModelStream(context.Background(), writer, model)
+	records := streamRecords(t, writer)
+	if !modelEqual(records[0]["canvasElementCounts"], map[string]int{model.Root: 3, empty: 0, nested: 1}) {
+		t.Fatal("scope counts must count direct members, preserve empty scopes and match the captured snapshot")
+	}
+	bad := modelTestDocument()
+	bad.Elements["a"]["ownerCanvasId"] = "foreign"
+	failed := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	writeCanvasModelStream(context.Background(), failed, bad)
+	if failed.Code != 500 || failed.Flushed {
+		t.Fatal("invalid owner must fail before publishing a scope certificate")
+	}
+}